


The Broken Window

by Mersheeple



Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25053379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mersheeple/pseuds/Mersheeple
Summary: They had been looking for a new home for ages. Maybe this would finally be the one?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805746
Comments: 14
Kudos: 61
Collections: Hearts and Cauldrons - Daily Prompts!, Hearts and Cauldrons Discord Members, Severus Snape Lives!





	The Broken Window

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morbidmuch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbidmuch/gifts).



> Another day, another prompt...or...y'know...something like that.
> 
> MM, my lovely, I really hope this has fluffies enough for you...

Although it had only been three months since they had decided that they needed to change their living arrangements, it felt like years. They had viewed so many houses that they all bled into one another in their memories. The simple fact was, they were fussy.

Severus wanted somewhere with an outbuilding, or a basement at a push, that he could use for his Potions Laboratory so that he could work from home and would not need to commute into London so often. It had to have at least three bedrooms. One to be kept as a permanent ‘guest’ bedroom for when any of Hermione’s friends decided to visit, though thankfully that was rare. One to be kept as a room for him when he cam upstairs too late or, more likely, when he was in a foul mood and needed somewhere to stomp and complain that would not disturb his wife. And one room for them to share. It needed to be big enough for their collection of books and if there was a garden that he could also use for potions ingredients well, all the better.

Hermione agreed with most of Severus’s specifications. She also wanted a space for an office for herself, a decent kitchen so that she could continue to learn to cook, a front garden that she could grow non-Potions ingredients in and an attic that she could use to store the things that she had left from her parents. She also would prefer somewhere with a lot of land so that she could commune with nature when she needed to. Somehow, the camping in her official Seventh Year had not completely destroyed her love for nature. She just preferred to spend the time during the day with the nature around her and sleep in a proper bed at night.

She found she did her best thinking, specifically about her work on Ancient Magics, somewhere where she could use all the elements at once. She liked fields with streams nearby, usually with her Bluebell flames dancing around her feet.

They had enough money to buy something beautiful but they could not find anything that worked. The first house they looked at was too close to town, the second too far away. The third smelled funny and the fourth had no garden at the front. The fifth house was too small and the sixth house was enormous and would take too long to clean, even with magic.

Their estate agent was beginning to despair of finding something for them. This was a last resort. It was “quaint” (they knew that meant old), “cosy” (small) and “rural” (in the middle of nowhere). Severus had sighed, rolled his eyes, and agreed that they should have a look just in case.

The cottage could also be described, quite accurately, as “dilapidated”, “ugly” and “filled with various animal droppings and holes”. The outside walls had once been white-washed and were now greying. The windows were single-glazed, with peeling paint that had also probably once been white. The door hung slightly crooked and had a gap underneath that was big enough for something to crawl through and die inside the house. From the smell it actually had.

Hermione had looked so disappointed as she shook her head at the agent. It had the outside space that was for sure. Unfortunately, the inside space was currently being taken over by plants from the outside space and it was utterly uninhabitable. Severus had wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer and apparated them back to her flat. It looked like they would be staying here for a while longer.

That night they both dreamed of the cottage.

Hermione saw herself sitting next to the window in the second bedroom, new dark blue curtains with white stars patterned on hanging and blowing in the light breeze. The walls of the room were painted a soft grey and the light was dimmed sufficiently that she could only barely make out the rest of the room. She smiled at Severus as he entered the room, raising a finger to her lips and standing as he held out a hand towards her. She barely looked around the room as she closed the door behind her and wrapped her arms around Severus’s waist, kissing his cheek and heading to the Master bedroom.

Severus saw himself painting the window frame in the second bedroom, having already replaced the glass. The window frame and sill were painted white on the inside, the glossy paint getting on his hands and fingers and he laughed as he flicked paint towards Hermione as she painted the walls a soft grey. The outside of the windows had already been painted blue, a strong contrast to the white that he had insisted on repainting on the walls.

They awoke the next morning, both distracted by their dreams. Over breakfast, they decided they needed to see the property again. They contacted their estate agent and arranged a second viewing. Without a word, they both proceeded to the second bedroom, looking out of the window. Hermione traced the flaking paint of the windowsill and Severus touched his fingers to the glass, his wandless, wordless magic wrapping around her as he fixed the glass in the frame. He looked at her, frowning as she smiled at him. Why had he been so insistent on fixing the glass in the smaller bedroom when there was so much work to be done elsewhere?

Hermione’s eyes widened momentarily and she silently cast a charm. A light glowed over her abdomen and she burst into happy tears. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her gently and kissing her stomach, smiling at her and spinning her around in a circle before he placed her on her feet. He called downstairs to the estate agent with a smile on his lips and his heart in his throat.

“The nursery has sold it for us. We’ll take it!”


End file.
